Proslavery Priest—The Atlantic World of John Lindsay, 1729-1788

Higman (history, U. of the West Indies, and history, Australian National U.) examines the life of Scottish native Reverend John Lindsay. Ordained as a clergyman in the Church of England, Lindsay lived the second half of his life in Jamaica, serving as rector of several parishes. He also married into Jamaican plantocracy and became a slave-owner, seeing no conflict between his ownership of people and his Christianity. Based on extensive research of Lindsay's written works--sermons, a natural history of Jamaica, a proslavery polemic, a novel, poetry--the biography focuses on the intellectual world of Lindsay and his desire to understand the world around him not only in religious terms but also within the framework of 18th-century philosophy and science. Distributed by Longleaf Services, Inc. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)